Human Head and Hands Discovered at Newly Sold Colorado Home: Authorities

“Investigators believe this is an isolated incident, and there is no ongoing threat to the community,” authorities said

Authorities confirmed that human remains discovered at a recently sold home in Colorado consisted of a head and hands.

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 15 news release that deputies were summoned on Jan. 12 to the 2900 block of Pinyon Avenue in the Grand Junction area over a suspicious incident.

According to authorities, the newly purchased property was being cleaned when
“possible human remains” were discovered.

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“Investigators believe this is an isolated incident, and there is no ongoing threat to the community,” the sheriff’s office said at the time.

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The sheriff’s office offered an updated release to PEOPLE regarding the case, which is now being characterized as a homicide.

"The autopsy by the Mesa County Coroner’s Office occurred yesterday and has confirmed the human remains found at the address on Pinyon Avenue on January 12, 2024, are a human head and human hands,” the office said in their statement.

It was further noted that the office will have no other additional information until further testing is finished, citing that these types of tests take time.

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“A thorough and detailed investigation is the top priority of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office,” authorities said in the aforementioned updated release. “Our hope is to positively identify the victim while remaining respectful of the victim and the victim’s family.”

CBS affiliate KCNC reported that video footage from the scene showed investigators wearing Hazmat-like suits.

A neighbor, Sam Troester, told NBC affiliate KUSA that the previous residents of the home moved out in the morning and the new owners arrived later to clean up the place.

“It turns out that the new owners of the house posted online that they were looking to sell a bunch of the garbage that was left behind, scrap metal and things that people could repurpose," Troester recalled, "and there was a deep freezer that was posted up for grabs.”

Troester added that the people who dropped by to pick up the freezer visited her home and asked if they could use her bathroom.

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"I let them in and cautiously I was like, ‘What's going on?’ ” Troester told KUSA. “And they continued to tell me that they opened the freezer to empty it so they could transport it and they said a head fell out. A human head!”

The sheriff’s office appealed to the public to reach out to authorities with any information about the case.

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